I had the opportunity to work on a variety of capital market deals as well as M&A / strategic advisory work. As the most junior person on my respective deal teams, I got broad exposure to all four verticals in the energy space: Upstream, Midstream, Refining, and Oil Field Services. My main tasks included analyzing financial statements, searching for relevant data, working on marketing materials, and helping with financial models. Towards the end of the summer, I also got the chance to attend a client meeting and learn first-hand how the bankers present materials and deal with clients.

Tell us about your experience living in a new place for the summer?

I grew up in Houston my entire life so moving back wasn’t a big change. I never spent much time in downtown or midtown Houston so working and hanging out with friends in those areas was a bit different. Downtown is a big business hub and most people work there. It was fun to hang out and meet other people my age mainly working in the energy industry and had offices downtown. Midtown is also a popular place for young adults and has a bunch of restaurants, activities, and neat things to do in the evenings or on the weekends.

How did you go about getting your internship?

I got my internship by applying through OCR.

What classes do you think were the most valuable in getting your internship?

All the classes I had taken before my summer internship really prepared me for the interview process. The most valuable classes to me were BA 101 and ACC 311. BA 101 helped me understand how to conduct myself in interviews through dress code, speech, etc. and ACC 311 helped with the technical questions regarding the financial statements.

What advice would you give others as they search for an internship?

Attend the October 13 Info Session; 7pm-8pm; UTC 3.104. RSVP via OCR!

What helped me the most throughout the recruiting process was to prepare early and cast a wide net. Joining finance related clubs on campus as well as IBA helps to understand the process by talking to people older than you and learning from their experiences. Also, attending all the informational sessions and workshops allows you to meet bankers from the different banks and to ask questions to get a better feel about the banks’ culture and your role as a summer intern.

Can you describe how your interview went?

My interview process consisted of two rounds. First round interviews were on the UT campus the week before school started after winter break. The first interview was a short 30 minute 2-on-1 technical and behavioral interview. The technical questions were mainly accounting and valuation related and the behavioral questions were about investment banking, energy, and strengths/weaknesses. Second round interviews were at the Credit Suisse offices later that week. I had a mix of six 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 30 minute interviews with bankers from the Analyst to the Vice President level. These were also a mix of behavioral and technical questions. The behavioral questions were situation based testing how I would react in certain situations and the technical ones were more complicated valuation questions stemming from past experiences on my resume.